Army

Equipping a Smaller, Lighter Force

August 15, 2001

By George Cahlink

hen the United States decided to intervene in Kosovo two years ago, air strikes were the only option for military planners. Sending in ground troops was quickly ruled out because it would have taken weeks to deploy the necessary troops to the Balkans. As Air Force bombs rained down on Kosovo, the Army found itself in a position increasingly common in the rapid-response, post-Cold War era-sitting on the sidelines as more mobile forces from the other services executed most operations.

After a decade of questions about its size and relevance, the Army has embarked on a bold transformation to retool for a new era. The restructuring calls for smaller units outfitted with more advanced and lighter weapons.

"The No. 1 theme of the transformation of the Army is to get a very strategically mobile force able to give the President a land option that can go anywhere in the world," says Kenneth Oscar, acting assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology. Ultimately, the Army wants to be able to deploy a combat brigade anywhere in the world in 96 hours, a division in four days and five divisions in 30 days.

The Army's acquisition blueprint for the next decade, which includes funds for procuring new and old weapon systems as well as for research and development of future weapons, includes about $70 billion for developing and fielding new equipment for the lighter force. Currently, the Army spends about $12 billion annually on acquisition.

Oscar says the Army will spend much of the next decade developing and testing new technologies for weapons that will not be fielded until at least 2010. "The No. 1 challenge is how do I reduce the weight of the whole force and at the same time give it the same kind of lethality and survivability," he says. "How do I make a 20-ton tank do the same thing as a 70-ton tank?"

Oscar says the Army will have to rely on new technologies such as hybrid engines, stealth, hypervelocity missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles to build the new force. The centerpiece will be a 20-ton future combat vehicle that will eventually replace the Army's 70-ton Abrams tanks.

While building the new, more mobile force, the Army plans to field an interim force outfitted with lighter equipment already used by foreign militaries and modified for U.S forces. The Army has purchased, and interim force combat brigades at Fort Lewis, Wash., have begun fielding, wheeled infantry carriers and mobile gun systems. Similar versions are used by the Canadian military.

Oscar says the Army does not have enough money to maintain its existing heavy force, procure equipment for an interim force and develop and build its future force. As a result, he says, the service will have to cancel or scale back some weapons programs. Oscar declined to say which systems would be scrapped. But, he says, the Army's most expensive weapons-the Comanche helicopter and Crusader howitzer, which are being developed at a combined cost of $2 billion annually-are critical to the future force and will not be eliminated.